Matthew E. White shares ‘Vision’ video

22/07/15

Matthew E. White has shared a new video for ‘Vision’, a track from his recently released album on Domino, Fresh Blood. The horn-laden track gets some heartwarming treatment from filmmaker Clara Aranovich and features Edi Gathegi (Twilight, Justified, X-Men) and Caitlin Stasey (Reign, Please Like Me).

Of the video, director Clara Aranovich says:

“This track captivated me immediately upon first hearing it on an indie radio station in LA and I knew instantly I wanted to direct a music video for it. I’m generally more drawn towards narrative videos and had been doing some research into the life experiences of the visually impaired (believe it or not, it was not the title ‘Vision’ that inspired the idea of exploring blindness but rather a coincidence). The song lends itself so beautifully to the growth and conclusion of a complete story that the writing process was breezy. And, as is the norm with me, what started as an intimate realistic story turned into something a bit absurd and surrealist and about so much more for me.“

Matthew E. White will continue touring this summer in support of Fresh Blood.

Live dates:

8 August - Powys, UK – Green Man Festival

25 October - London, UK – Barbican Centre (Lee Hazlewood tribute)

Praise for Fresh Blood:

“Transcendentally beautiful, Fresh Blood is as good as it gets in any genre”5/5 The Independent on Sunday

“Never mind the space, this album is the bomb”5/5 The Sun

“Every detail on Fresh Blood feels as if it’s been calibrated for maximum hot-buttered gorgeousness”5/5 The Evening Standard

“[White] draws something truly wonderful and wise from such well worn ground”4/5 MOJO

“Less of an album, more of a grand seduction”4/5 Q

8/10 Uncut

“…a richly immersive album”8/10 NME

“The instant you put Fresh Blood on the stereo, your innate knowledge that all “feel good” music post-1974 is bogus gets smashed to smithereens by Matthew E. White”8/10 VICE

“These feel like classics in their own right”8.5/10 The Line of Best Fit

“A delicious record”4/5 The Guardian

“Joyous, amorous and glowing by turns”4/5 Mail on Sunday

“Matthew E. White does not disappoint”4/5 The Observer

“White’s aim is always true”4/5 Metro

“A captivating second album”4/5 Daily Mirror

“This is the kind of album that harks back to music’s glorious history but does so in a way that remains fresh and compelling”4/5 DIY

“[White] is an artist who continues to intrigue and delight in equal measure”4/5 musicOMH

“Fresh Blood is a joyously melodic journey”Loud & Quiet

“A sublime follow-up”9/10 ‘Album of the Month’ Future Music

’4/5′ The Times

’4/5′ Daily Express

’4/5′ Record Collector

James Holden announces co-headline show with Polar Bear, shares live session

07/07/15

Having embarked on his first full UK tour earlier this year, modular synth mastermind and DJ-turned-live-performer James Holden has announced a special co-headline show with Polar Bear at Electric Brixton on 15 November.

Holden will be performing with his portable modular set-up alongside Tom Page of Rocketnumbernine, who also performed with Holden on his previous live dates. Tickets are now available to purchase here.

A recent session Holden did for Crack Magazine features his incredible modular/live drums set-up, and can be watched here.

‘The Inheritors builds on his remarkable debut – it’s even more ambitious in scope, grabbing the listener by the throat and refusing to let go’9/10 The 405

‘If Boards of Canada evoke the beauty and majesty of the rolling countryside, Holden puts you in direct contact with it, forcing you to engage in its uneven terrain and irregular placement.’8.2 Pitchfork

A couple months ago we ran a contest to find this creature a new home. We received over 500 mails from every corner of the world proposing myriad purposes for it – including an aeronautical engineering student who wanted to attach it to a rocket and fire it into space.

But right from the first time we read it, one proposal in particular grabbed our attention, and after researching the logistics of transporting this gentle giant halfway around the world, we are proud to announce the winner today!

Harry Marshall emailed us on behalf of a group of students at the Welsh School of Architecture, planning to help build a playground on the island of Koh Rong in Cambodia, together with non-profit organisation Friends of Koh Rong.

The Cambodian island of Koh Rong is certainly not the only island that is dealing with the effects of increased tourism but is one such example, where rapid change is presenting the local community with overwhelming challenges.

Friends of Koh Rong was set up in 2013 to help deal with exactly those problems through increasing (the previously limited) access to education, healthcare and increasing the community’s capacity to deal with the strain brought by more tourism:

“Our organisation aims to help in mitigating the negative impacts of the tourism industry, and to enable our beneficiaries to stand in the best possible position to benefit from the changes that have arrived on this island, their home.”

As tourist infrastructure has encroached on more and more space on the island, there is no place for the school aged children on the island to play. The playground, sitting next to the school set up by Friends of Koh Rong, will provide an area for the children to play and be safe. The creature will provide a centrepiece for the playground.

Harry and his team are raising money to complete this playground right now with construction due to begin towards the end of July – right around the time the multicoloured creature, which is just now being crated up and in preparation for its transpacific journey, will arrive on the island.

Natalie Prass shares ‘Bird of Prey’ video, UK tour begins next week

16/06/15

The clip comes ahead of Natalie’s UK dates, which kick off next week and include sold out shows at London’s Islington Assembly Hall and Manchester’s Deaf Institute.

As well as a string of European festival shows this summer, Natalie will be playing her biggest UK headline show to date in November at London’s KOKO. Tickets for the show are on sale now and are available here.

“His is a world of strange and wonderful rhythms and few debuts manage such idiosyncrasy without losing focus”9/10 Loud And Quiet

“Jaakko Eino Kalevi is a reminder that pop can be both for your head and your feet”DIY

“A confident collection of tracks begging to be played on repeat”London in Stereo

Ahead of the release of his new self-titled album on Weird World on 15 June, Jaakko Eino Kalevi has shared the record in full via a stream on Dummy.

Featuring the previous singles ‘Double Talk’, ‘Deeper Shadows’ and ‘Hush Down’, Jaakko Eino Kalevi finds Jaakko on spellbinding form. Composing sumptuous and wildly original music that teems with ideas and more than delivers on the promise of its predecessor – the breakthrough 2013 EP Dreamzone - Jaakko Eino Kalevi marks the start of a striking new chapter for the Berlin-based artist.

Jaakko will play an album launch show at the Courtyard Theatre in London on 19 June. In September he’ll be heading out with Unknown Mortal Orchestraon all of their dates across the UK and Europe, a full list of which can be found below.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi is out digitally and on CD, LP and deluxe LP on 15 June 2015. Pre-order from iTunes or Weird World.

Daughn Gibson has shared a video for ‘Daddy I Cut My Hair’, the latest track lifted from his forthcoming album Carnation. Directed by Matt Amato, it follows the movements of an eleven year old girl as she navigates the rugged terrain of an abandoned yet mesmerising American landscape. The entire clip was filmed on location in Pennsylvania’s coal region, featuring the towns of Centralia, Jim Thorpe, Mahanoy City, Mt. Carmel, Nesquehoning, Shamokin and Shenandoah.

Daughn Gibson’s Carnation will be available 8 June 2015 from Sub Pop Records.

Pre-orders of Carnation are available through iTunes. A Loser Edition on white, black and blue swirl-colored vinyl will be available from independent record stores (while supplies last).

“Jaakko Eino Kalevi is a reminder that pop can be both for your head and your feet”DIY

“A confident collection of tracks begging to be played on repeat”London in Stereo

Ahead of the release of his debut self-titled Weird World album on 15 June, Jaakko Eino Kalevi has shared a new single from the record, ‘Hush Down’.

‘Hush Down’ is another excellent example of Jaakko’s hypnotic idiosyncrasies – a spellbinding pop song sparkling with flashes of technicolour and fortified with his signature dreamlike wonder. A handsome strut and sashay, ‘Hush Down’ is at once sleek, seductive and wildly original in its execution.

Further to the news that Jaakko will be playing in the UK later this month – which includes an album launch show at Courtyard Theatre in London – he will also be heading out with Unknown Mortal Orchestra on all of their dates across the UK and Europe this September. A full list of those shows can be found below.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi is out digitally and on CD, LP and deluxe LP on 15 June 2015. Pre-order from iTunes or Weird World.

27/05/15

Bop English - AKA White Denim frontman James Petralli – has announced an instore performance at Rough Trade East in London on 3 June at 7pm, ahead of his sold out Oslo show later that day.

With a band that features former Shearwater bassist Kevin Schneider and White Denim member Steve Terebecki, the Bop English tour is rapidly gaining momentum, with Bristol, Brighton and Manchester sold out as well as London.

James has also shared a new video for recent single ‘Struck Matches‘. Having discovered someone known as Sally Cinnamon performing a hula hoop routine to the song on Instagram, James loved what he saw so much that he contacted Sally to see if she’d make a longer clip to serve as the single’s video. She was more than happy to oblige, and will consequently be attending the last show of the tour in Manchester!

EMA to bring virtual reality installation to London’s Barbican

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ON THE THEME “SACRED OBJECTS FROM SUBURBAN HOMES”

“a technological prophet in her own time” NY Times

“a musical tour de force” Sunday Times

“glitch-tastic American singer EMA continues her dystopian scoping, bringing an immersive “living room” set to Barbican” Time Out

“…an ability to exert control over their art, and a refusal to be silenced” Pitchfork

Since releasing the critically-acclaimed and eerily prescient album The Future’s Void in April last year, EMA has expanded her vision across a variety of mediums. She created a multimedia collection and series of politically-charged singles on NewHive, and scored an upcoming horror film starring Chloe Sevigny.

Following a year of international touring and an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Anderson has returned to her roots with a series of non-traditional performances. Earlier this year at MoMA PS1 in New York, she worked with collaborator Zach Krausnick to create I Wanna Destroy, the first instance of “live VR” – improvised virtual reality.

Using a Microsoft Kinect to track her movements in real time, Anderson performed a new song cycle while audience members explored a bespoke virtual environment and her avatar morphed between a blonde replicant and a reptilian known as “SnakeMan”.

In May, Anderson was invited to participate and perform at the New Museum as part of Deep Lab, a cyber feminist collective tackling issues of privacy and surveillance. She presented Does It Still Feel Weird If I Just Use My Hands?, in which audience members were asked to draw on one another.

In a recent profile on artist Ryan Trecartin, the New Yorker described him as a “bridge” person, or “someone who grew up before the revolution in digital technology, whose effects are now second nature to the generation that was born into it.” Anderson considers herself part of this group: kids who remember life before cell phones and big internet, but have grown along with technology and now embrace aspects of it in their work. Despite working with hyper-modern issues of tech and connectivity, Anderson’s work retains an emotional resonance and a human touch. Her virtual reality work has been described as “DIY” and “anti-capitalist”.

For her upcoming performance at the Barbican, Anderson and Krausnick will be in residence at the Barbican Station to Station from July 5th-7th, and will be incorporating submissions from an open call for “Sacred Objects from Suburban Homes”.

According to Anderson, “suburban” is a state of mind rather than a geography, and “sacred objects” can be practical or decorative, old or new, prominently displayed or hidden away. Examples may include a TV remote, a decorative ashtray, Grandma’s place settings, a new tech gadget or a school football trophy.

Submit your own “sacred objects” on NewHive with the tag #sacredobjects or via email: sacred@iwannadestroy.com

Selected objects will be rendered in 3D and included in an immersive performance taking place on July 7th at Barbican. Anderson and Krausnick are also encouraging Barbican visitors to bring in physical objects during their residency July 5-7 to be included in the installation.